Page 73 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization
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source of authority, and nobody was above the law.This system as an integrative so-
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cial system combined political and civil culture in this society. All Oromos had spir-
itual, moral, and political leadership before their colonization:“The possession of . . .
[qaallu] and the common gada government seems to have been the ‘special mark’ of
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the Oromo nation.” Gada as an integrative social and political system organized male
Oromos according to hirya (age-sets) and luba (generation-sets) for social, political, and
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economic purposes.
Studying how the gada system works under Ethiopian colonialism in the Borana
region of Oromia, Legesse reconstructs the system as the following:This system “is a
system of classes (luba) that succeed each other every eight years in assuming military,
economic, political, and ritual responsibilities. Each gada class remains in power dur-
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ing a specific term (gada) which begins and ends with a formal transfer ceremony.”
The word gada has three related meanings: it is a period of eight years during which
elected officials take power from the previous ones; it is the phase during which a class
of people are in power by having politico-ritual leadership; it is the institution of
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For their known history, Oromos have had the gada institution to
Oromo society.
regulate their economic, political, military, cultural, ritual, and other social activities.
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Despite the emergence of various autonomous gada councils with the increased
Oromo population and territories between 1522 and 1618, the central principles of
the overall system remained intact.The organization of males based on age and gen-
erational roles reflect the principle of balanced opposition.The Borana Oromo is “a
society that is... [organized] into two distinct but cross-cutting systems of peer group structures.
One is a system in which the members of each class are recruited strictly on the basis of chrono-
logical age.The other is a system in which the members are recruited equally strictly on the basis
of genealogical generations.The first has nothing to do with genealogical ties.The second has lit-
tle to do with age. Both types of social groups are formed every eight years. Both sets of
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groups pass from one stage of development to the next every eight years.” Whereas
Oromo males are involuntarily assigned to age-sets on the basis of age, they are re-
cruited to gada classes involuntarily on the basis of genealogical generations.Male chil-
dren enter into the system of gada grades 40 years after their fathers, but they join
age-sets as newly born infants. Since one grade is eight years, fathers and sons are five
grades apart. Male children can join advanced grades at birth, and may join men or
old men who are considered to be members of their gada grades. Older men mentor
young males, teaching rules and rituals, but the former treat the latter as equals since
there is no status difference between the two groups in a gada class. Members of a gada
class share the same status and roles and perform their rights of passage from one grade
to another collectively.
A key Oromo religious institution played an indirect role in the Oromo political
system. The leader of this institution is known as qallu; H. A. Kelly notes that this
leader “is thought to possess sacred characteristics that enable him to act as interme-
diary between the people and Waq [Waaqa].The qallu had no administrative powers,
but could bless or withhold blessings from gada leadership, and had an extraordinary
power to curse anyone who threatened the well-being of the entire community by
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deviating from Waq’s order.” The criteria to be a qallu included seniority in lineages,
respectability in the community, expertise in ritual practices, moral qualification, re-
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spect for cultural taboos, sound social status, and other leadership qualities. The
leader of all qallus was known as Abba Muuda (father of the anointment), who was
considered to be the prophet and spiritual leader of Oromo society. Oromo pilgrims